Serious implications

In Crawford, a tense -looking President Bush summoned the pool to the ranch for a brief statement on Benazir Bhutto’s assassination. He took no questions.

“The United States strongly condemns this cowardly act by murderous extremists who are trying to undermine Pakistan’s democracy. Those who committed this crime must be brought to justice. Mrs. Bhutto served her nation twice as Prime Minister and she knew that her return to Pakistan earlier this year put her life at risk. Yet she refused to allow assassins to dictate the course of her country.”

In an email, Pakistan expert Stephen Cohen of the Brookings Institution calls the killing “horrifying but not surprising,” saying her opponents were determined to kill her– whether it kills hopes for real democracy in Pakistan is uncertain. There’s already a list of possible suspects.

Rudy’s OK, cancel the rumors: When the former New York mayor was hospitalized last week with flu-like symptoms, speculation was rampant that the one-time frontrunner, now faltering badly in the polls, would bow out of the race citing health reasons. Now, his doctors say he’s in good shape — so he’ll have to find another reason.

Fun for us, bad for them: The presidential race remains unsettled. Various polls show voters still waffling in the early states, new speculation emerges that John McCain and John Edwards could surpass early expectations– which isn’t saying much, but still.